The Sunday Times Magazine - UK (2020-11-08)

The Sunday Times Magazine • 47

The Dish

Bread pudding

With the legendary bread bakers

of Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan,

in mind, this is a popular pudding

combined with a few classic Silk

Road bazaar flavours. The

cardamom and dried pear halves

really make this dish.

SERVES

6 people

INGREDIENTS

35g salted butter, softened, plus extra

for greasing

6 slices of white bread, crusts cut off

2 cardamom pods, seeds removed

170g dried fruit (I use a mix of

raisins, apricots, cranberries and

pear halves), larger fruits cut into

bite-size pieces

½ tsp ground cinnamon

350ml milk

50ml double cream

2 eggs

1 tbsp cornflour

3 tbsp granulated sugar

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Single cream, to serve (optional)

01 Grease a deep-sided 1 litre

baking dish. Butter each slice of

bread on one side and cut each

slice into 4 triangles. Put the

cardamom seeds in a frying pan

and dry-fry over a medium heat for

2-3 min, tossing occasionally.

Remove from the frying pan and

crush them lightly using a pestle

and mortar. In a bowl, mix

together the dried fruit, cinnamon

and cardamom.

02 Arrange a layer of bread

triangles on the bottom of the

dish, buttered side up. Sprinkle

over some of the dried fruit and

spice mixture, and then top with

another layer of bread triangles.

Repeat until you’ve used up the

bread and fruit, making sure the

top layer is bread.

03 In a small saucepan, gently

warm the milk and double cream,

bringing it to just below boiling

point (taking care not to let it

boil). Then whisk together the

eggs, cornflour and 2 tablespoons

of the sugar in a bowl until pale

and a little frothy.

04 Slowly pour the milk and cream

into the egg mixture, whisking as

you go until smooth and well

combined. Pour this evenly over

the bread, and sprinkle over the

remaining tablespoon of sugar

and the nutmeg. Leave to rest for

30 min and heat the oven to 150C

(170C non-fan).

05 Bake for 30-40 min until the

creamy custard has set and the

top is golden. Serve warm with

a jug of very cold single cream n

4

GETTY